From an online report: "More drownings occur on Kauai beaches than on any other Hawaiian island. During the last decade, Kauai has averaged 11 drowning deaths per year. Visitors comprise three quarters of the drowning fatalities."

This is the 13th week of 2013, and we've already had ELEVEN drownings. Almost one a week. Most have been tourists, but a couple have been longtime residents.

All of last year there were 8.

If you come here, PLEASE be way more cautious than you think you need to be, while in the ocean or even on the shore. Only 7 of the 58 beaches on the island have a lifeguard.

Last time I was there, about 6 years ago, the best Mai Tai I had was actually at the Smith's luau (walk the pre-made drink over the the bar and have them put a float of dark rum on top; makes all the difference.) This time we did better.

Mahiko Lounge at Gaylord's, Kilohana Plantation, Lihue. This was the best we found for a real/Trader Vic's style. No screwing around! Pay the extra buck or two for them to use Koloa rum. They do add a little fresh-pressed sugar cane juice, which worked. We went here twice - the bartender the first time made them best, but they were easily worth drinking on the second visit, too.

Feral Pig, Lihue. These guys also make a nice from-scratch drink. They make their own orgeat and were maybe a little heavy-handed with it - the drink had kind of a thick texture. But a good drink, and kept consistent between different bartenders. Worth repeating.

Oasis on the Beach, at Waipouli Beach Resort, Kapa'a. This is fairly similar to the Feral Pig's drink, but a notch below, and missing mint. They also make their own orgeat and their drink also has that thicker texture. They also add a little bit of passion fruit. They used Whaler's for the float - wish we'd thought to ask whether they had Koloa. I thought the drink had a little bit of an odd flavor at first, but overall a better choice than you'll find most places.

Tiki Iniki, Priceville. Sadly, a huge disappointment. On paper it's a Trader Vic's recipe, but it was terribly executed. I don't know how they got that result out of those ingredients - it just tasted like Sprite. They were by far the most generous with the mint, but I couldn't smell or taste it (I posted more in the Iniki thread in Locating Tiki.)

Tahiti Nui, Hanalei. Everybody knows this isn't a 'real' Mai Tai, but had to admit it was pretty tasty.

For excellent beer, we highly recommend Kauai Beer Company on Rice Street in Lihue. Their beers were all good, and their porter (KokoBoPo) was phenomenal! Right now they're only open Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with food trucks available at 5 on Thursdays. They expect to have their own kitchen open in a few months, though. NOT to be confused with Kauai Island Brewing in Port Allen (they were OK, but their beers were more average.)

If you got privilages you can buy groceries at the Barking Sands Naval Base for mainland prices, the base club, Shenannigans, isn't bad and you can rent a 2 bedroom bungalo for 60 to ~100 a night pending on your status and pay grade. We plan on heading back in 2015 for 2 weeks.

Last time I was there, about 6 years ago, the best Mai Tai I had was actually at the Smith's luau (walk the pre-made drink over the the bar and have them put a float of dark rum on top; makes all the difference.) This time we did better.

Mahiko Lounge at Gaylord's, Kilohana Plantation, Lihue. This was the best we found for a real/Trader Vic's style. No screwing around! Pay the extra buck or two for them to use Koloa rum. They do add a little fresh-pressed sugar cane juice, which worked. We went here twice - the bartender the first time made them best, but they were easily worth drinking on the second visit, too.

My Wife and I visited in 2012 and I will second the fact that Gaylord's makes a fantastic Mai Tai. We are big fans of Koloa Rum as well. Also I don't know if they are still doing them with the recent ownership change over and all but take the tour of the Coco Palms! Was a really cool experience.
_________________-Mockingbird.

We're recently back from another trip, so just adding some new Mai Tai notes. I'm glad to report that there are a couple more non-OJ options out there (though most places do seem to be a bit float happy.)

Overall, I'd say Gaylord's / Mahiko Lounge was still the best. Unfortunately, there was again inconsistency between bartenders on our two visits - people always seem to walk up and distract them right when they're making our drinks. But still a good option, and was the best when it was created without distraction. They now just automatically make them with the Koloa. (Again, it's very convenient to the Koloa Rum tasting next door.)

Oasis on the Beach, Kapa'a - this was OK but they add passion fruit juice and were extra heavy with it. So not my favorite.

Tiki Iniki - I wanted to give it another try here, but again the bartender was a very new employee. And then he started doing his flair moves. So I just had some El Dorado and left it at that. Place still looks good, though!

A couple new spots we tried this trip were:

Hideaways Pizza Pub at Pali Ke Kua condos in Princeville. This place opened a few months ago and I noticed at "1944 Mai Tai" on their menu. Again, a pretty good option. Could have used more mint, but no big complaints. This isn't far from Tiki Iniki - we went straight from there. (Bonus: great Bali Hai sunset views from just outside Hideaways.)

and

Merriman's in Koloa/Po'ipu. Also a pretty good drink! They add lilikoi foam on top similar to Tiki's in Waikiki - except they use a TON of it. Looks like a big mound of whipped cream on your drink. It does dissipate after a bit so you don't feel so silly. They normally use Old Lahaina White & Whalers dark in these; I asked them to substitute Koloa rums on the second round which we thought was an improvement. They also make a separate "Kauai Tai" with OJ & pineapple juice - nice that they use a different name for that.

The Feral Pig closed? Bummer, I was thinking we would go there next month. My experience with Tiki Iniki was to go there in the evening, the night bartenders followed their recipes, and they were good, (so were the ribs) but the guy bartending during the day was just putting in time. A Lot of good rum hidden behind the other rums also.